Verb Tenses
Past Participarle
simple past
present
Past participles are used for all perfect tense forms of a verb and in the passive voice in English.
For regular verbs, we normally add ED to form its past participle. Unfortunately for irregular verbs there are no rules and it is just a matter of practice.
The highlighted words below are examples of past participles:
- Conditional perfect
If his passport had not been stolen, Adam would have gone to Brazil.
I wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me.
- Past perfect
Chris was ill because he had eaten too much chocolate.
She missed the bus because she hadn't set her alarm.
- Passive Voice
The west coast of The USA was struck by torrential rain last night.
The painting was stolen in the middle of the night.
- Present perfect
She hasn't finished her assignment yet.
I still haven't found my keys.
- Future perfect
Jamie will have been in Australia for one year in April.
He will have gone by the time you arrive.
The simple past is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before now.
The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has already happened. Unlike the past continuous tense, which is used to talk about past events that happened over a period of time, the simple past tense emphasizes that the action is finished.
Wolfgang admired the way the light glinted off his silver medal.
Wolfgang was proud of his hula hoop victory.
He won the silver medal.
The contest was the highlight of his week.
Wolfgang entered a hula hoop contest.
The simple present tense in English is used to describe an action that is regular, true or normal.
We use the present tense:
- For facts.
The President of The USA lives in The White House.
A dog has four legs.
We come from Switzerland.
- For habits.
I get up early every day.
Carol brushes her teeth twice a day.
They travel to their country house every weekend.
- For repeated or regular actions in the present time period.
I take the train to the office.
The train to Berlin leaves every hour.
John sleeps eight hours every night during the week.
- For things that are always / generally true.
It rains a lot in winter.
The Queen of England lives in Buckingham Palace.
They speak English at work.